The present invention relates to an apparatus for preparing a liquid food such as a coffee beverage by effect of centrifugation. The invention also relates to a method for the preparation of a liquid food such as coffee beverage using centrifugal forces.
It is known to prepare beverages wherein a mixture consisting of brewed coffee and coffee powder is separated with centrifugal forces. Such a mixture is obtained by bringing hot water and coffee powder together for a defined time. The water is then forced through a screen, on which screen powder material, e.g., ground coffee, is present.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,296 relates to a centrifugal coffee brewing apparatus using a filter cartridge inserted in an apparatus which comprises a compartment for receiving said cartridge and has a second compartment or, alternatively, a restriction orifice for providing a back pressure sufficient to control the dwell time of liquid in the cartridge. As a result, the extraction can be improved since the interaction time between the beverage ingredients and water can be significantly increased.
WO2006/112691 relates to a device and method for preparing a coffee wherein small outlets are placed downstream of a cylindrical filtering screen placed in an openable receptacle. However, the size of the beverage outlets is fixed.
The extraction conditions of the existing prior art device cannot be properly controlled. In particular, the residence time for providing the desired extraction characteristics (i.e., solid content, yield) to the beverage and/or the amount of foam created on top of the beverage cannot be easily controllable.
The present invention aims at proposing a solution to the disadvantages of the prior art.